Weaving machine



April 11, 1944. B, s. OWEN ET AL 2,346,541

WEAVING MACHINE Filed May 8, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 0000000 000 OOOOOQOOOOOOOOO BESS/E S. OWEN BEULAH E MEEK W Arrqfiygg;

1 April 11, 1944. EN TAL 2,346,541

wmvme MACHINE Filed May a, 1941 2 Sheets-She et 2 /NVENTORS:

Bess/s S OWEN BEULAH E MEEK ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 11, 1944 WEAVING MACHINE Bessie S. Owen and BeulahFay Meek, Cleveland, Ohio Application May 8, 1941, Serial No. 392,526

5 Claims. (Cl. 139-33) This invention relates to weaving machines, and'more particularly, to simplified constructions of such machines on which a large variety of patterns may 'be woven, and which are operable by relatively unskilled persons.

The ordinary weaving machines of the type of this invention, at present obtainable, are usually composed of complicated mechanisms that are expensive to build, and generally designed to produce large amounts of one particular pattern of cloth. The complicated parts, which require considerable skill to operate, do not make them readily adaptable for usein the home or by children, and the machines are generally of such a nature a to take up a relatively large amount of space. These machines are also generally .adapted to be operated to produce only onetype of cloth or woven article with the particular yarn or thread being used, and, are, therefore, limited in their application for the purposes'to which this invention is directed.

'An object of this invention is to provide a simple apparatus vfor home use to weave a large variety of difierent designs from different materials, the designs being only limited by the ingenuity of the operator. 7

.Another object is to provide a weaving apparatus which is collapsible and from which the ma terial does not need to be removed for carrying the machine from place to place.

A more particular object of this invention is to be able to vary the width of the cloth woven with a minimum of expense, and use of.com-- plicated parts.

'Anoth'er and. more particular object of this invention is to enable the use of many colors, and to be able to .maintain the pattern by the proper movement of the moving parts of them;- vention, through the fact-thatidentification of the part .neXt to be moved is readily discernible.

The ability to increase the number of threads used in the cloth woven is likewise an object of this invention.

Ot-her objects and advantages, that may be .1. obtained by the use of the aforesaid invention,

will be obvious on consideration of the followirg description,

"movable heddl'e beams and guiding meant, fas- 'ten'ing means for'the warp material oryarn, and

the warp tensi'oning or separating means.- v

Figure '2 isa sectional view of Figure 1, taken on the line 2-2.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken about on the line 3-3 of Figure 1. T

Figure 4 is a detail view of the 'endkmembers of the frame,.show'in'g the widthadjusting means partly broken away, and showing the fastening means therefor. p Figure 5 is a detail sectional View ofa hinge taken about on the1ine"55 for Figure 2.; i

Figure 6 showsa modified form of hed'd'le beam useful for the purpose of this invention;

Figure 7 is 'a detailview of a section of the comb. r I

Referring to the drawingal igure 1 shows a frame, generally designated as 1, preferably formed of flat wire, but, of course; it Imay be readily understood that other material of. a suitable nature-maybe used. The frame, as al-whole, is made up of two U-shaped members with ends 2, preferably engaged in tube-like members 3, substantially rectangular in form,jthe ends '2 of the frame being adapted for adjustment in the rectangular members '3 and limited in their adjustment by the length scopic member 3; j

The ends 2 of the frame are clamped in the rectangular members'3 by the bolts -5 which are engaged with the wing nuts 6. Coextensive with the rectangular tubular sections 3 are pressure bars I at opposite ends of the main frame, designed to hold the yarn or thread-like material in a definite position when the pressure bars I are clamped by the, action ofthe wing nuts on the bolts, betweenthe pressure bars 1 andvthe rectangular section portions 3 of the (frame.

The yarn or thread 8 is passed upwardly between the pressurebars and rectangular tubular members 3, thence generally above the vframe of slots 4 in, the'teieand to theother end of the frame to the corresponding pressure bar I and rectangular tubular section 3 and clamped between these sections at the other end. The ends 2 ofthe frame being adapted to slide in the rectangularsection 3 of .the frame, an increase or decrease in the number of strands of. thread or yarn is seen to be possible, and, of course, the pressure bar 1 may be released from the engagement with the rectangular members 3 when. the cloth has been woven, and the cloth may then bemoved, bringing into position a new groupof threads to be woven and the pressuer bar may again be clamped against the rectangular sections 3.

Figure 1 shows the sides of the iramebroken about the middle and vhingedabout ivots ll,

I3 of the spring. Passing through the center. portion of the spring l2 are stiffening rods 14' and I5, fastened as at I6 and 11, through holes in the side members of the frame and shown as being fastened at 16 and I! in any suitable. manner.

The rods l4 and i 5 overlap' one' another, and are designed to maintain the coils of the spring in alignment when the frame is extended to wider position, and, likewise, when the frame is in its narrowest position. Adjacent one end of the frame are the guiding members 18- and is, which may be of corrugatedmaterial, orthe' like, to provide guide grooves, the corrugations run-- ning relatively vertically of theframe, and fastened to the frame by any suitable means at 20 and2l.

'The'guidingmemb'ers IBand i9 extend upwardlyof .the frame, -'and""slidably mounted in theinner portions or the corrugations are the warp supporting" bars or heddle beams 22. 'These warp supportsor heddle beams are generally U-shaped in conformation, and extend transversely of the frame-,-and,"as shown in Figure 3, their lower "ends project into suitable openings 24 at the inner portion "of thei'corrugated' guidingmembers l8 and "I 9. The heddle beams are generally of a I spring -likematerial or wire, and theends 23 are disengaged from the respective holes '24 by theihandle portions 25 when it is desired to raise or lo'wer'the tensioning means 22 as hereinafter described. 'The tensioning means 22 are guided in the corrugations by the portions 26 of the tensioning means.

Depending from the heddle beams 22 are the warp supporting means, which, for the purposes of this description, may be various colored tie loops 21, and are supported on the heddle beams 22. Figures 1 and 3 show the manner ofengagement of these tie loops with the heddle beams, and also the manner in which the warp threads 8 are passed through thesuspe'nded portion of the tie loops 21, and "adapted to be raised or lowered for the purposesfto behe'r'einafter described. The different sets or colors of the warp thread supports or tie loops 2'! are generally supported on different heddle beams for purposes that will appear clear in the description of the operation of the machine as now follows: The lengthwise threadsbr warp" are f rst clamped between the'pr'essure. bar I onone'end of the frame, and the rectangular section 3, thence passed under the spring member l2,the various warp threads being spaced by the respective portions (coils), of the spring, thence each individual warp thread is passed through one of the warp supporting threads or tie loops 21, generally the same colors of the tie loops being supported on the .same heddle beam, and thence the threads are passed forwardly to the other end of the frame and clamped ,between the rectangular section3 and the pressure bar .1, thus preparing the machine for operation.

beams 22 are moved outwardly, the ends 23 of the handle portions being pulled out of engagement with the respective holes 24 and the heddle beam may then be raised as before described. The heddle beam is held in its raised position by means of the ends 23 entering upper holes 24.

It will be seen from Figure 1 that the heddle beams are guided in their upward movement and spaced from other heddle beams by the manner of corrugation'of the side guides l8 and 2B. After the filler thread has been passed-beneath -the raised warp threads, the heddle beam may then be returned to its normal lowered position and another heddle beam from which depend other warp supporting threads or tie loops 2! may be operated to actuate another set of warp threads, the manner in which these are operated being determined by the pattern that is desired to be attained.

The order in which the raising and lowering of theheddle beams takes place will be seen to affect the pattern, and the order in which the heddle beams are raisedmay be readily maintained 'by maintaining the color sequence of the threads located on the heddle'beams. That'is to say if the heddle beams, as shown in Figure 1, have red, white, and blue, and green threads, depending therefrom in order from left to right,,the directions in the pattern description will instruct the operator to raise the red threads, or the white threads, etc., in the proper sequence.

From the above, it will be seen that a great variety of patterns can be secured by the order in which the beamsare raised, and the number of warp threads actuated by any given heddle beam may be changed. It may also be seen that by increasing the number of heddle beams and guides for the beams, the variations will be increased in a like fashion.

The limit in number to which the addition of guide members and heddle beams therefor may be made is only held or limited by the ability of the operator, and, of course, the actual size of the loom.

In order to fold the frame, one end thereof is folded, under the other, around the pivots I I, the removal of the cloth ofthe material being woven not being necessary to fold the frame.

Summarizing the construction of the weaving machine, it will be noted that generally speaking there is provided a base frame, the side members of which are made up of pivotally connected sections whereby the frame may be folded into a collapsed condition for conservation of space in the packaging or shipment of the weaving device.

The said frame comprises also the end members which are telescopic in their cooperation, whereby the width of the base frame may be changed or adjusted to different dimensions and held at such adjustment by the suitable fastening set screws or the like.

The side members of the frame support the heddle beams which are guided for vertical movemeht in guide members attached to said side, and

these heddle beams are adapted for sliding movement upon the guide members, and adapted to be interlocked with the latter so as to be held in stationary positions at certain times during the weaving operation.

The machine, therefore, affords a simple and compact collapsible structure, which may be readily set up and put into use in a few minutes and which may be employed to weave articles or cloth of different widths and many different patterns in view of the fact that the heddle beams may be provided in any suitable number for cooperation with the guides of the guide members, one heddle beam being supplied for each set of threads to be handled, there being usually one particular color thread handled by each heddle beam, though not necessarily so.

The ends of the heddle beams 22 may have spring frictional engagement with the guide grooves of the guide members 20 thereby to hold the heddle beams in their upper and lower positions of adjustment under which conditions the interlocking of the ends of the heddle beams with the guide members 20 may be dispensed with.

In view of the fact that the base frame of the machine is laterally or transversely adjustable as to Width, the heddle beams may be correspondingly constructed of telescopic sections, so as to conform with the adjusted width of the machine, and to be operable with respect to different such adjustments.

Figure 6 illustrates one form of adjustable heddle beam, in which one section of the beam 22' telescopes in the other section, as shown at 22a. The sides of the warp beam will be frictionally engaged or held in place at fixed adjustments by small screws 220, if necessary.

Figure 7 illustrates in detail the construction of a novel means of packing the filler thread after the same has been passed between the warp threads previously described, and is generally called a comb and has a cross member 28 with up-standing teeth-like members 29 of sufficient length to fully guide the warp threads in their raising and lowering movements, and the aforementioned comb member 28 likewise has U- shaped ends 30 adapted to slidably engage the side members I of the weaving frame. The comb, so designated, assists in maintaining a uniform width of the material woven by separating the warp threads and keeping them spaced, as before described.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a weaving machine, in combination, a base frame, comprising sides and ends, the ends being made up of telescoping parts for facilitating movement of the side members toward and from each other, means cooperating with the ends of the frame to fix the same in adjusted positions and thereby hold the side parts of the frame correspondingly fixed, guide members carried by the sides of the frame and provided with vertical guiding portions, heddle beams mounted for vertical sliding movement in the guiding portions of said guiding members, thread anchoring means at opposite ends of the frame, and means for connecting warp threads anchored to the ends of the frame to the heddle beams.

2. A weaving machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sides of the frame are comprised of pivotally connected sections, the sections at one end of the frame being foldable beneath the sections at the other end of the frame.

3. In a weaving machine, in combination, a base frame, guide members projecting upwardly from the base frame at opposite sides thereof, a plurality of heddle beams mounted between and on said guide members for vertical movement, the base frame being comprised of adjustably connected sides for varying the width thereof and means for adjusting the length of the heddle beams to conform with the width of the frame according to the adjustments of the latter, anchoring means for warp threads at the ends of the frame, and means to connect warp threads with the heddle beams.

4. In a weaving machine, in combination, a longitudinal base frame comprising sides and ends, vertical guide members attached to the sides and projecting upwardly therefrom and having a plurality of horizontally spaced vertical guide portions, warp thread anchoring means at opposite ends of the frame, and heddle beams comprising a transverse body portion and vertical end portions, the end portions being slidably mounted in the guide portions of said guide members, said end portions of the heddle beams having inwardly extending projections at the inner sides thereof to interlookingly engage the guide members at different points in the vertical area of the guide members.

5. In a weaving machine, in combination, a longitudinal base frame comprising sides and ends, vertical guide members attached to the sides and projecting upwardly therefrom and having a plurality of horizontally spaced Vertical guide portions, warp thread anchoring means at opposite ends of the frame, and heddle beams comprising a transverse body portion and vertical end portions, the end portions being slidably mounted in the guide portions of said guide members, said end portions of the heddle beams having inwardly extending projections at the lower ends thereof to interlockingly engage the guide members at different points in the vertical area of the guide members, and including handles extending outwardly from the end portions of the heddle beams for manipulation thereof.

BESSIE S. OWEN. BEULAH FAY MEEK. 

